This time, the call was not from Ying Yu, but from a rather unfamiliar number.
Zhou Q’ian answered cautiously, “Who is this?”
“It’s me,” a female voice came from the other end of the line.
“Han Li?”
The two usually communicated through private messages on the forum and rarely called each other in real life.
Zhou Q’ian raised an eyebrow, wondering if the efficiency was a bit too fast. It had only been a few hours.
“I’m still working on the thing you asked me to check.”
“…but I accidentally found something else,” Han Li said. “Recently, a few big associations have been asking about you. Also, the fact that you have a holy artifact was sold out by the Red Hood.”
Finally, she added, “The two incidents happened at different times, so the correlation is not high.”
Zhou Q’ian sneered upon hearing this.
A time difference, which means the first group of people asking about me had other motives.
This was really a coincidence.
The news of Ying Yu’s disappearance must have leaked a little. After all, a large-scale search for a person, no matter how small the movements, would attract attention. When Ying Yu was around, even if you gave the Red Hood ten times the guts, they wouldn’t dare to sell the information privately after selling it to the officials.
“She wouldn’t dare to go too far. I had my brother pretend to be a buyer to test her out. The Red Hood didn’t sell to many people, and they didn’t mention the special attribute that the holy artifact can only be used by a specific person.”
The Red Cloak was only responsible for making a profit, causing trouble everywhere.
The process of testing her out must have cost points. Zhou Q’ian paused and said, “I owe you one.”
The next instance would only have a reward of around ten thousand points. Just the male witch of prophecy and the lucky item had already cost him fifty thousand points. If it weren’t for the occasional bit he could fleece from other players, he would have long been in the red.
It was better to owe a favor.
Han Li smiled. This was the sentence she had been waiting for.
The continuous rise of Map Cannon’s reputation on the forum was enough to prove the value of this favor.
After ending the call, Zhou Q’ian fell into silence.
The matter of the holy artifact aside, the first group of people asking about him was probably related to the Whaler’s Association.
This association had long established its brand and used it to attract other major associations to take action.
In the process, they didn’t even have to pay any price. Just as Chen Su had said, they only needed to contribute a few instance numbers with treasures and lower difficulty.
“Really troublesome.”
The distance was close, and the call was not quiet. Shen Zhiyi had obviously heard it too.
Not to mention whether these people could pose a threat, Zhou Q’ian disliked this sense of intrusion.
His eyes sharpened. “Someone has been staking out my place recently.”
Disliked it to the point of… wanting to send them to the tunnel to become a giant.
Shen Zhiyi’s fingernails were very thin, and upon closer inspection, there was no blood in them. He promptly helped Zhou Q’ian retrieve the beef that was almost overcooked and said, “This is the age of technology.”
If someone was staking out, they wouldn’t just be standing there foolishly. They would most likely be using some technological products. Cameras and the like are easily discovered, but miniature listening devices and so on were probably indispensable.
Zhou Q’ian had also thought of this, but he had no intention of nipping it in the bud for the time being.
Shen Zhiyi, likewise, did not, as usual, open his mouth and say “kill them all.” When he turned to help Zhou Q’ian peel a shrimp, his fingers gently squeezed, and the large shrimp broke in two.
He threw the red-oil-coated shrimp head aside and said lightly, “Pawns.”
Zhou Q’ian nodded.
If he hadn’t misread Ying Yu’s words, he would be entering a dangerous instance soon.
Using these people as pathfinders was perfect.
Zhou Q’ian revealed a “doting” smile. “Then let them follow.”
Follow until they die.
…
A little while after dinner, the mother and son left.
Zhou Q’ian actually really wanted to force himself to stay awake and ask Shen Zhiyi about other things, but with his mother there, they couldn’t just close the door and have a private chat.
In the end, just as Shen Zhiyi had suggested, he prepared to go back and rest for a bit, and talk after he was refreshed.
Recently, there were fewer and fewer pedestrians and vehicles on the road. The journey back was unimpeded.
Under the night sky, the woman carried the gift, humming a cheerful song. The evening breeze seemed not to dare to touch her hair, only blowing the corner of her clothes.
As they were approaching home, Zhou Q’ian glanced behind the big tree, then nonchalantly retracted his gaze.
When his peripheral vision caught the familiar profile beside him, he smiled gently.
No matter what happened, as long as they could go home together like this, it was fine.
The sky was full of stars. After returning home, Zhou Q’ian lay down on his bed early.
In his familiar place, the moment his head hit the pillow, fatigue gushed out like a flood from an open gate. It didn’t take long for his breathing to become regular, and he fell into a deep sleep.
Just as his fatigue had slightly subsided, a headache and a nightmare all came rushing in his sleep.
The world in his dream was a sea of red.
His feet stepped on the cold marble tiles. Not far away, a woman with disheveled hair was lying by a trash can, her body almost drained of blood.
“Damn it.”
This dream again.
The disturbing scene in the dream was very impactful every time he saw it. Zhou Q’ian tried to wake up immediately, but failed.
Besides the blood, a rotten smell wafted from somewhere, drilling into his nostrils. The air also had a faint, sour smell. His lungs burned with each breath.
Zhou Q’ian tried to find the source of the smell. After taking a couple of steps, he casually looked up, and his expression suddenly changed.
There was a change from all the previous dreams. On the slanted side, a deformed creature was clinging to the ceiling.
It had a human face, but the color of one of its arms was completely different, connected to sharp beast claws. The monster’s gums were exposed, and saliva dripped continuously from its serrated fangs. It was losing its mind to hunger.
A corner of a work ID was sticking out of its pocket.
Zhou Q’ian narrowed his eyes and immediately confirmed its identity.
“The traitor from the laboratory back then.”
The feeling of hunger kept growing. A strange gurgling sound came from the monster’s abdomen. It began to reach out its claws towards the woman on the ground.
Seeing the woman in danger, Zhou Q’ian subconsciously wanted to make a sound to attract the monster’s attention, but the soft flesh in his throat was stiff, and he couldn’t make a sound.
When he tried to rush forward, his legs felt like they were filled with lead, and he couldn’t move an inch.
His heart pounded like a drum. Zhou Q’ian forced himself to calm down and tried to lift his slightly less stiff arm to knock on the fire cabinet next to him to make a sound to attract the monster’s attention.
In the moment of desperate effort, Zhou Q’ian’s breath suddenly hitched.
…In a cabinet in the distance, there was a bloodshot eye.
Gloomy, and with the madness left over from extreme fear.
That eye was not looking at Zhou Q’ian, as if he didn’t exist.
As the monster accelerated its dive, the man in the cabinet actually rushed out too. He was holding a steel pipe in his hand and stabbed it towards the monster’s back.
But the monster was faster. It just pushed off the wall next to it and easily jumped over the man’s head. The disparity in their strength was huge. The man’s abdomen was torn apart by the monster almost like a piece of waste paper.
He did not dodge.
It was this lack of dodging that bought him a few seconds of time. The moment the excruciating pain came, the steel pipe in the man’s hand stabbed towards the monster’s shoulder.
“Go to hell—”
The steel pipe continued to sink in. A distorted howl came from the monster’s throat.
The joint where the arm of the Xun beast had been transplanted was clearly its weak point.
Amidst the monster’s wails, the man was thrown away. The tie flew up in the air, and the gushing blood dyed the pattern on it red.
At this moment, Zhou Q’ian also truly saw the other’s face…
It was the Boss!
The scarlet blood flowed along the cracks in the floor to the tip of his shoe. The blood was not just flowing from one direction; more was coming from the office.
As the blood stained the bottom of his shoe, Zhou Q’ian found that he could move a little.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
The blood under his feet solidified. The monster stopped howling. The pained gasps on the ground also disappeared.
As if his consciousness was being instigated, an unknown force was pulling him forward. Zhou Q’ian unconsciously moved his legs, stepping on the blood and walking all the way to the source.
The familiar office area was close at hand. At the entrance, the glass was splattered with blood.
By the door, a young man in an employee uniform was lying on the ground. The pattern on his clothes was no longer visible, and blood and flesh were smeared all over the floor.
His vision refocused. This person felt exceptionally familiar.
Bending down, Zhou Q’ian turned the person over with some hesitation. Suddenly, a deathly pale face came into view.
“I…” His throat felt like it was stuck.
It’s me.
Seeing his own pale face, under the huge impact, Zhou Q’ian stumbled.
So three years ago, he, his mother, and the Boss had all died once?
No, it should be near-death. He seemed to have one breath left. His mother, who was a little further away, had not been completely disemboweled by the monster because of the Boss’s intervention. The Boss’s chest also had a faint rise and fall.
Just as Zhou Q’ian was about to confirm further, the picture suddenly became blurry.
“Damn it!” When he desperately wanted to wake up, he couldn’t. At the most critical moment, he had the feeling that the camera was about to shift.
Is it messing with me?
The moment the scene was about to jump, Zhou Q’ian seemed to see a familiar figure rushing over.
The excruciating pain in his mind made it impossible for him to open his eyes. He finally managed to lift his eyelids with great difficulty, and a familiar scene appeared.
His mother and the Boss were frantically gnawing on something.
But this time, the dream extended a little further and did not end abruptly.
For some reason, the monster did not approach. It stood in the distance, as if seeing something, filled with fear. At the same time, it couldn’t help but look at what the other two were gnawing on, its tone mixed with a thick covetousness—
“Taisui… Taisui meat!”
Taisui.
When these two words appeared in his mind, it was as if a gaze transcended his spirit. Zhou Q’ian fainted on the spot in his dream.
————
In a luxurious, illegally self-built house in the city center.
A straight figure stood by the glass. Shen Zhiyi had not slept all night. His pale eyes naturally made people feel fear.
He could vaguely sense that the Heart of Nightmare was undergoing a strong emotional change.
Shen Zhiyi lowered his eyes slightly. “Has some of your memory recovered?”
The Heart of Nightmare was essentially a nightmare creature. Having it on him, while ensuring his safety, also had its drawbacks, such as… nightmares.
Zhou Q’ian’s recent frequent nightmares were inextricably linked to the Heart of Nightmare.
Some things, even if he didn’t say them, the other would know sooner or later.
Time passed by, second by second. Suddenly, Shen Zhiyi seemed to sense something and quickly walked towards the door.
The moment the door opened, a knocking snake stood elegantly in place. Then, a thin figure fell down.
…
The next day, the sun rose.
The moment the sunlight shone on his face, Zhou Q’ian’s eyelids twitched slightly. When he opened his eyes, the fatigue had eased a lot, with only a faint headache remaining.
“…Ugh.”
The after-effects of the dream were severe. After the muscle soreness had eased a little, Zhou Q’ian lay in bed for a few seconds before he managed to get up. The next moment, he was completely awake.
An unfamiliar ceiling, an unfamiliar environment.
And a hint of familiarity mixed in with the strangeness.
The door was not closed. Hearing the movement, the person outside walked over.
Shen Zhiyi was wearing clothes of a pale color. His whole person was like something out of an old film, all his colors stripped away. He had a superior face, but it was easy to overlook if you weren’t careful.
“Are you awake?”
Seeing a good-looking face first thing in the morning is good for one’s mood and eyes, but Zhou Q’ian couldn’t be bothered to appreciate it right now.
After being stunned for half a minute, he found his voice again. “How am I here?”
“Sleepwalking.”
What kind of dark humor is this?
The corner of Zhou Q’ian’s mouth twitched. “Don’t joke.”
The distance between them was not small. He couldn’t have just walked over?
“Your auntie drove you here.”
As if knowing his doubts, Shen Zhiyi’s words stunned Zhou Q’ian on the spot.
“When you walked out of the house, you kept calling my name, so your auntie brought you here.”
Giving gifts twice in a row had a good effect on their relationship. Although it was a snake that had knocked on the door first last night, after the door opened, the moment Shen Zhiyi caught Zhou Q’ian, the woman standing in the distance did not make any further moves.
He stated the facts. “Your auntie’s rationality has returned a lot.”
To prove this point, Shen Zhiyi lightly touched the young man’s cheek with his cool fingertips.
Pain.
Zhou Q’ian covered his cheek. Why did the area around his mouth hurt so much? He looked at his equally aching hands and feet. There were red marks on them, obviously from being tied up with a rope.
In Shen Zhiyi’s subsequent explanation, Zhou Q’ian gradually pieced together the truth of his sleepwalking: to prevent him from mentioning things about the instance in his sleep and breaking the taboo of not being able to talk about it in reality, his mother had tied him up like a rice dumpling.
So touching.
Thinking of his crazy behavior last night, Zhou Q’ian couldn’t help but touch his neck.
His head was still there.
He couldn’t help but touch it again, feeling the pulse of his carotid artery. “Life is truly a miracle.”
After being moved for three seconds, Zhou Q’ian took the water Shen Zhiyi handed him. The cool water went down his throat, washing away the blood from unconsciously biting his lips.
The last memory was frozen in the dream. His eyes went black, and the world went blank.
So why did he come here?
Could it be that he was eager to know the buried truths and his subconscious was looking for Shen Zhiyi?
He had actually guessed half of it right. It was more because the Heart of Nightmare had been stimulated and had recovered from its dormant period for a while, instinctively approaching the aura of its main body.
Zhou Q’ian’s gaze shifted, and he was about to speak.
Shen Zhiyi knew what he wanted to ask. “You can believe your dream.”
He bent down slightly, seemingly gently massaging Zhou Q’ian’s temples. When he was about to turn his head, he said pointedly, “The reason is here.”
Cerebellum evolution.
In the process of evolution, some memories were slowly awakening. In the last instance, the voice of the ghost market manager contained a certain magical quality, which further stimulated him.
“What I say will naturally affect your perception,” Shen Zhiyi said at this time. “At least until…”
He frowned slightly, seemingly looking for a substitute word for evolution.
Finally, he said, “Your brain is fully developed.”
Zhou Q’ian: “…”
Go read a book for me.
It had to be said that Shen Zhiyi’s massage was very effective. The action, which had exceeded a safe distance, made Zhou Q’ian want to dodge. But at this moment, as the headache subsided, he decided to enjoy it.
After the headache disappeared, the Night Wanderer Zhou completely calmed down.
Shen Zhiyi said he could believe his dream, which meant the reason for his mother and the Boss’s alienation was clear: eating Taisui.
The power and side effects of Taisui meat were obvious.
Both his mother and the Boss had the desire and strength to devour monsters. Their bodies had clearly completed their evolution. However, just as Yuan had reminded, there were no demons or monsters in the real world. Too much evolution was not a good thing. The side effects made it impossible for them to directly enter the new world.
This also corresponded to what the university student had mentioned before, that the Boss’s panel skills and so on were all empty.
…Just one [Health-preserving Bag] was not enough. He had to find similar items to help them completely restrain their desire to devour.
Zhou Q’ian deduced further.
Was it Shen Zhiyi who had brought the Taisui meat?
Shen Zhiyi’s identity was clearly not simple. He could change his voice, appearance, and appearance for a long time. At the same time, his shadow also had consciousness. The last person with such great powers was Voldemort.
Thinking of this, Zhou Q’ian’s head started to hurt again. He muttered in a low voice, “Strange.”
Taisui was not a new term. There were countless stories about it in the real world. Why was it that now, when he thought about it, his whole spirit was not right?
Temporarily giving up on getting to the bottom of it, for now, finding the university student and Ying Yu was urgent.
Besides the fact that they were on good terms, he needed to find a similar substitute for the [Health-preserving Bag] through Ying Yu to help his mother and the Boss.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Q’ian asked, “By the way, where’s my mom?”
“She’s in line for you at the psychiatric department.”
Recently, doomsday theories have been rampant. More and more people have been suffering from mental shocks. Hospitals are overcrowded, and the online appointment system has already crashed.
Zhou Q’ian’s expression was quite spectacular. He cursed, “…Your mom, no, my mom…”
He’s not sick!
He had just almost sleepwalked from the remote old city district to the city center.
He resolutely refused to go to the hospital!
Ding-a-ling.
Recently, whenever his phone rang, it was never good news. Zhou Q’ian immediately felt a sense of impending doom, frantically praying that it wasn’t his mother calling him to go to the hospital for a check-up.
After seeing the caller ID, he was relieved. “It’s my ‘little mom’.”
“Hello,” Zhou Q’ian answered cheerfully.
Han Li, who had once played the role of his little mom in an instance, seemed to have found something. At this moment, her tone was unprecedentedly serious. “You’d better come to the hospital.”
“…”
__
Author’s note:
Zhou Q’ian: I’m most proud of my mental state. No one is allowed to question it! Also, there’s nothing wrong with my brain.
PS: Teacher Shen is a nightmare, not Taisui~
